Painterly Charms
by nevereatdirt
Summary: Kankri Vantas, resident bad boy, has been a renowned political graffiti artist since his freshman year. One night he's nearly caught and finds himself face to face with someone that has somehow guessed his darkest secret. Furious, he makes it his duty that the other man doesn't tell a soul, else he suffer the consequences.
1. Red

The night was cool and pleasant. He'd been wandering the city with his bag in hand for roughly three hours. He'd told his father that he'd be studying at the library and then at Porrim's. It was the middle of the week. He knew that there his father would never suspect him of doing anything like this. He was the good son. Unlike his younger brother he was level headed and well spoken. Seemingly well adjusted. He usually did go to the library when he said he was going. But he knew that none of the cops were in the area tonight.

It was perfect.

He found the spot. Visible enough for his message to be seen, but secluded enough to work on his own. He put his bag down and took out the first can. A royal purple. Nice start. He pulled his respirator out of his bag and pulled it over his head. Remember, kids: Safety first, even when you're tagging. He sprays a fine layer to start out. It makes a nice base. There was plenty of night left, so he took his time to make it nice and even, getting the edges to look _just_ right. He put the purple back in his bag, pulling out the next can as he did.

He started in with some white, fanning out from the middle in a light spray. He wanted a nice, gradated effect. He smiled as it started to blend. It was going perfectly so far. He threw that can back into his bag and pulled out a vibrant red. He outlined the first shapes, getting them to look just the way he needed them to and grinned. He stepped back a little and looked at what he'd done so far. He pulled his respirator off and threw it in his bag. He needed some fresh air while he worked on this part. Taking a deep breath, he smiled and fixed the outlines.

The smell of the spray paint was comforting. He relished in the exhilaration of putting his thoughts on the wall. In the way that only he knew who'd put it there, but how everyone still noticed. This was his life. A life that only he knew about, but it was his. He loved it. He threw the can he was using back in his bag and pulled out the next color he'd need. A darker red. Lots of reds in this one. But as he started he heard something behind him. He packed up his bag, just in case and was glad he did as he slung it over his shoulders, being sure to zip his jacket up all the way to block his face.

A cop had shined a flashlight at him just as he'd gotten it zipped. He ran toward the ledge of the building and jumped over the alley. He didn't quite make it to the opposite ledge, but he managed to grab onto the fire escape. He swung up onto it and looked around. The cop was still chasing him so he scaled the escape to the roof. He ran across that rooftop and looked around. He saw large houses on one side and (sub)urban sprawl all around him otherwise.

He went north. If there was one thing he knew, it was that breaking into a house in that part of town was less likely to get him arrested than breaking into a business. He jumped from the rooftop he was on like he had from the first and landed safely on his feet. He let out a loud whoop of laughter and then went on his way silently, jumping and rolling as he went. Once he made it to street level he jumped up into a tree and jumped form branch to branch until he made it to the houses, looking for one with an open window. He could see a few, but all of them had lights on...

He ran past a dozen houses and could hear sirens in the distance. The cops must not've had much else going on tonight. Great. He looked up and saw his answer waiting for him. He clamored up the lattice work and jumped into a second story window, rolling lightly and looking around. He was doing his best to breath deeply, though the dark figure across the way had him nervous. He moved softly, trying to stay out of view of the window and the figure, but the figure turned.

He kept low to the ground, but it still moved towards him. Once it was in the light from the window he saw that it was someone about his age. He looked familiar. The boy smiled, a handsome grin but he couldn't concentrate on that, he needed to get out of here. "I can't believe it worked!" His voice was loud. The cops were definitely going to hear him. "Who are you? No. No don't tell me!" He looked toward the door. "Dad! Dad come here! It _worked_!"

He jumped toward the other boy and knocked him to the ground, covering his mouth. He put his other hand to his own lips, motioning for him to shoosh. He realized that the boy couldn't see his face and unzipped the jacket to do it again. The other boy's eyes were wide behind a pair of horn-rimmed glasses and he nodded a little. He moved his hand from his mouth but the boy started to shout for his dad again. He panicked and pressed his mouth to the boy's, hoping that the shock would get him to shut up. He pulled back and was proven right.

He blinked a few times, his mouth still open and all that he said was, "Who are you?"

He sighed. "Someone you shouldn't tell anyone about."

He laughed a little and bit his lip. "Uh, I meant what's your name?"

He searched his face with a growl. "It's not important."

The boy swallowed and looked at the straps of the bag, noticing a symbol. "Oh shit. You're the Sufferer!"

"What?" His eyes widened. "How did..."

"Your bag! Oh my god. Oh my _god_! Why are you...?"  
"Don't you dare tell a soul."

"Uh, I won't."

"Promise."

"I promise."

"Good. Now I'm going to be here until the cops are gone. Then I'll leave." He narrowed his eyes as he sat up and moved back to the other side of the room. The other boy followed behind him and sat next to him.

"I'm Cronus."

He looked at Cronus. "What does that matter?"

He shrugged a little. "I guess I just thought that I could get your name." He bit his lip again. "I think I've seen you in school before... It's... Kan something, I think?"

He frowned deeply. "How did you know that?"

He laughed. "I know things." He swallowed. "And I might've cast a spell to bring someone here. And I basically asked for anyone who stood out to me."

"I stand out?"

"Well yeah you do. Look at yourself!"

He did and sighed. "Just because my clothing doesn't comply with societal norms, it doesn't mean that I stand out."

"Uh, yeah, actually I think it does, Kan."

He sighed. "It's Kankri." He narrowed his eyes. "And if you tell a _soul_..."

"Don't worry I won't."

"I need that in blood." He pulled out his pocket knife and poked his finger. He grabbed Cronus's hand and did the same thing.

"Oh! What was that for?"

He held out his hand. "Blood promise."

"I don't think that that's..."

"Sanitary? Not at all. Shake."

Cronus scrunched his nose and did as he was told. "I promise that I won't tell anyone. Ever."

"Good." He looked up at the window. There were no more headlights. That meant it was time. "I'm leaving now. I'll trust you to not to say anything, Cronus." He walked toward the window and started to climb out, but he turned back. "Remember, Cronus. IF you break this promise, I will find you."

"I already told you that I won't."

"Very well then." He looked down and jumped out the window, rolling as he hit the ground and breaking back into a run as he went. He ran until he made it to Porrim's house and climbed up to her window as he had at Cronus's house.

He closed the window and walked gingerly to the futon that he always slept on when he stayed there. He threw his bag down next to it and stripped down to his boxers. He flopped onto the futon and slept as best as he could.

If Cronus had told anyone who he was, there was going to be a hefty price to pay.


	2. Violet

He was at school, backpack crammed full of homework and spell books. He was thumbing through his latest acquisition as he wandered through the halls. Everyone steered clear of him. He didn't care. Soon he'd have friends. That's what this new book was for. He made his way to his locker and put away what he wasn't going to need for his first half of the day, then went to his first classes.

The teachers just prattled on and on, and all that he could concentrate on was the new spell he was working on. After lunch he had his free period and decided that outside might be a nice place to work on his spell. He sat in the shade with the books spread around him. He was staring intently at one when he saw the boots. He looked up at the owner and his jaw dropped a little when he saw Kankri. He had a lit cigarette dangling from his lips and a look of disdain on his face. "Cronus."

He swallowed. He remembered his name! "Uh, hey Kan."

Kankri slid down next to him, the cigarette still in his mouth. "Who am I?"

He furrowed his brow, confused. Wasn't he... not supposed to say anything? "Well you're the Suffe—!"

"Wrong!"

"But you asked...?"

"And you're wrong." He pointed the cherry of his cigarette at him. "Now. Who. Am. I?" His expression was unreadable.

He swallowed. "You're... Um. You're Kankri."

"Wrong again." He turn the cigarette around. "Smoke."

"What?"

"I said smoke not talk." He shoved the cigarette in his mouth with a smirk and Cronus couldn't do anything but to sit there completely dumbfounded.

He sat there with the cigarette in hit mouth, confused as to what he should do. He put his hand to the bottom of it and took a drag, but he started coughing it up almost immediately. He pulled an inhaler out of his pocket and took a deep breath, holding it in and letting it out.

Kankri snorted. "A lonely, asthmatic nerd is the one that knows my darkest secret." He shook his head and sighed as he took the cigarette back. "Isn't that just fucking _precious_." He hissed on the end of word then took another drag of his cigarette. He leaned over a little and scrunched his nose.

Cronus leaned in, his mouth a little open. That lean in was the sign that they were going to kiss again wasn't it? But oh shit he still had the cigarette in his mouth! He just stayed there, mouth agape, not sure what he was doing.

"Cronus what the _fuck_ do you think you're doing." His voice was flat. He took a drag from his cigarette and blew it in his face, holding the cigarette in his hand.

He coughed and took another deep breath from his inhaler. "Um, I don't know?"

He smirked and huffed a laugh. "You're a strange one." Cronus took the opportunity and leaned forward quickly, pressing a kiss to his lips. After a few brief moments he pulled away, ginning meekly. Kankri frowned. "What was that."

He bit his lip and looked down. "Uh, sorry. I guess I thought that you leaning in was a sign that I should kiss you?" He laughed a little. "Was that okay?"

He rolled his eyes. "You kiss like a twelve year old."

"Why do you know that?"

"Because when _I _was twelve I kissed them," he deadpanned.

"I see..." He looked down and swallowed. "So, um, last night..."

"Oh. Fucking _no_. That was _not_ your first fucking kiss."

He shrugged and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah it was." He scratched the side of his face with a nervous laugh.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me." He sighed. "I hope you realize that that kiss didn't mean _anything_ except that you need to learn to not call for daddy when strange men climb into your bedroom. It won't end well for anyone."

He frowned a little. "How did it not mean anything? I mean... You don't just go around kissing people..."

Kankri rolled his eyes and pulled Cronus back to him, pressing a kiss against his lips, moving his lips slowly and then pushing him away. "I do. See? It doesn't mean anything. At all."

Cronus's eyes were wide. "Why did you do that?"

"To prove a point." He took another drag of his cigarette and leaned back, blowing smoke rings as he did. "Now. One last time. Who am I?"

He swallowed and looked away. "Someone I... Someone I shouldn't tell anyone about."

"Exactly. And do you know what I'll do if you tell anyone?" He glanced at him with an eyebrow quirked again.

He swallowed. "I don't know." He rubbed at the back of his neck. "What are you going to do to me?"

"Let's just say that I know people. People that could _fuck you up_." He ran a hand through his inky black hair.

"What?"

Kankri didn't answer him. Instead, he asked his own question. "So what the fuck were you doing last night when I came in?"

He smiled. "I'd just finished casting a spell!"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, right. I forgot that you're a huge nerd."

"I"m not a huge nerd! I just..." His smile widened. "I'm a warlock!"

"A wah-wah?"

"A warlock. You know, a wizard."

"I know what you said. I was hoping that you misspoke."

He furrowed his brow. "I am a very powerful warlock, I'll have you know."

"Prove it."

Cronus laughed. "Well the spell I cast last night _obviously_ worked."

"What were you trying to do?"

He shrugged. "I... I cast a spell to bring me a friend." He looked away, his face flushing. "Or at least I thought it worked. You don't seem to be very friendly."

"That's because I'm not."

"And that's why I know my spell didn't work..." He frowned.

Kankri made a face. "You sure deflated quickly."

An alarm chimed and a monotone voice read over the intercom. "Kankri Vantas Report the guidance office. Kankri Vantas to the guidance office."

Cronus looked at him. "Shouldn't you get going?"

"I will once I finish this cigarette." He took a long drag and let it out. "Besides, I like to make them sweat it out." He chuckled manically then laid back in the grass.

"But... you were paged. You have to go!"

"Do you do everything that you're told?"

He laughed a little, nervously. "Um, I think so?"

"Then lay back in the grass. Relax a little." He frowned. "You look like there's a ramrod shoved up your ass." He grimaced. "There isn't is there?"

Cronus laughed again. "No, there isn't." He laid down in the grass and Kankri flipped on top of him, putting his hands at his throat. "What are you doing?"

"I'm showing you that I could hurt you if you don't do what I tell you to." He smirked, the cigarette still in his mouth. Cronus's face flushed again as he stared at Kankri's lips. He really couldn't help it. He just wished that he could kiss him more. It was just so wet and soft, he wanted to feel that again. He swiped his teeth against his lower lip. Kankri put his hand to the cigarette and took another drag. He leaned forward and blew the smoke in Cronus's face. "I think it would benefit you to stop staring at my mouth like that." He put his cigarette in Cronus's mouth and stood. "Later, nerd." He went into the school, leaving Cronus in the grass.

He stayed there, not quite sure what just happened with the cigarette still dangling from his mouth. He took it out and smiled as he talked to himself. "I think I'm in love." He laughed a little and rolled onto his stomach to look in one of his spell books. He knew just the charm that he was going to need.


	3. Cerulean

Kankri slouched in his seat in the guidance office, his hands tucked into the pockets of his leather jacket and a discontented look on his face. The counselor sat behind her desk, arms folded on top of it in a light blue dress. This wasn't the first time they'd been in this situation. And it probably wouldn't be the last. He really didn't understand why they kept singling him out. He knew that they didn't know who he was. There was just no way.

But all she did was sigh and lean forward a little, trying to adjust herself so that her cleavage wasn't so visible. Her little attempt made him smirk. She was just so easily flustered by him. Once she'd found a comfortable position, she started talking. "Hello again, Kankri."

"Ms. Serket." He nodded once in affirmation.

"This is the fifth time you've been in here this month, Kankri."

"Yep." He was going to keep his answers short and concise.

"And you are aware as to why you're hear, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

She sighed. "I do wish that you'd put more effort into all of this. Your education is a very important thing. I'm just worried that you'll be throwing your life away if you keep this pattern going."

"Uh-huh." This spiel _again_. Didn't she know that he was going against the system by neglecting to comply with a flawed system?

"I just want you to know that, if you keep skipping your classes, that you're not going to be allowed to graduate with your class."

"_What_?" He did all of the fucking work for the classes. He just didn't _go_.

"Despite your otherwise perfect record, Kankri, you are missing one vital part of all of them. Attendance. It's only the second month of classes and you've already missed ten days of class. We've given you chances to make them up, and you've neglected to take any of them. What I need to know now is if you're willing to put in the effort to raise your grades." She brushed a long strand of hair behind her ear as she gave him a worried look.

"I guess."

She sighed deeply. "I'm going to be setting you up with a tutor."

"What?" He gave her a disgusted look. He was fucking _smart_ why the fuck would he even need a tutor?

"Your sessions start today after school. We've already contacted your father about it and he's going to be picking up your brother. You'll be meeting your tutor in the library at three thirty. Be sure to show up on time."

He growled a little in his throat. "There's no _fucking_ way that I'm seeing a tutor!"

"Here are your options: Get tutored or don't graduate. I've been putting this far too nicely as far as the consequences have been concerned." She shook her head. "I've known you a long time, Kankri. You're better than all of this."

He huffed. "All of what?"

"All of this skipping. What happened to they boy that used to wear sweaters and give long sermons to his classmates?"

He frowned. "He grew out of being an irritating little shit that's what." He used to talk so much more. He used to practically preach to his classmates over social injustices. Now he'd moved on to a bigger audience and using fewer words.

"But you were such a sweet boy, Kankri." She sighed. "Just promise me that you'll go to your appointment?"

"Yeah, whatever."

"No, promise me. On something that matter."

He lolled his head back and stuck out his tongue. "Fine. I swear on my mother's grave. Happy?"

"Thank you, Kankri. Now, if you would, could you please actually go to class?"

"Maybe I will."

"That's better than nothing. Now you just head out. And could you please send Ms. Peixes in? I have some things that I need to talk with her regarding her internship..."

"Yeah, sure." He pushed himself out of the chair and stalked out. He looked at the intern at her desk. Her ear buds were in, and her music was just loud enough for Kankri to hear it. He held up a hand as a wave and jerked his thumb toward the office door. She pulled one of the buds out.

"What's goin' on?"

"Ms. Serket wants to see you, Meenah."  
She gave a shark like grin. "Yeah, thanks shrimp." She pulled the other ear bud out and then from her iPod then went into the office.

He shrugged and wandered into the hallway, opting to go for a nice walk instead of going to class. He wandered out one of the side doors and toward the skate park. He didn't usually spend much time there, but some of his old tags were there. It was always fun to go and look to scrunch his nose at his old work.

He sat down at the edge of the park, watching the few people there move gracefully around on their boards. He lit another cigarette and took a long drag. He knew that he shouldn't smoke so much. And that if he kept it up he wouldn't be able to outrun the police anymore. He let his smoke out in a long sigh when he heard a voice. "Sup Kankles!" He turned around. Latula and Mituna were coming towards him. Latula he could handle.

But Mituna? Today? Fuck no. "Hey, Latula." He waved at her with his cig hand.

"I thought little boys were supposed to be in school? Hmm?" She pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows.

He smirked. "Last I checked college students have class as well."

She shrugged. "Unlike you my classes don't go all day, KK!" She looked at Mituna and smiled. "You go skate, baby, I'll be there in a sec." She leaned up and kissed him.

Kankri really hated that guy sometimes.

After Mituna had skated off, Latula frowned at him. "Kankz why you skipping?"

He sighed. "I'm showing that the system is corrupt by doing all of their monkey work without having to show up."

"That's just a load of shit and you know it. You just don't wanna deal with it."

"You shut your whore mouth." He took another drag and blew it up at her.

She started cackling. "Oh, Kankles, how far you've come from the little prude boy we all knew and loved!" She gave him a nudge with her boot. "What happened to you, anyway? Haven't seen you around here lately."

He shrugged as he took another drag, letting it out as he spoke. "I've been thinking on the vast expanse of the universe. Wondering why it is that, of all the creatures out there, humans are the only ones that have such strangely limiting behaviors thrust upon them."

"Huh, I just thought you were doing something..." She smirked. "..._illegal_."

"Porrim told you, didn't she."

"She sure did, Kankles. Why are you tagging again? Is it because of what happened?"

He stood and threw his cigarette to the ground. "I don't want to talk about this, Latula."

"You should, though. It'd be good for you!"

"Nope. Normally I'd love to stay and chat with you but not today." He started to walk back towards the school.

"What did I say!"

"Everything. Nothing. Something." He waved back at her as he left. As much as he loved talking to Latula, he couldn't talk to her if she kept pressing about it. There was nothing to talk about. Period.

He wandered back into the hallways and slipped into his last period study hall, leaving the teacher none the wiser that he'd been gone at all.

He drew absently in a worn out sketchbook through class. It was just a figure with a charming grin and a bit of a pompadour. Long legs, an aquiline nose, broad shoulders... The figure had a bit of a greaser look. Yeah. That seemed to suit him pretty well. When the bell rang, he closed his sketchbook and went to the library.

He sat in one of the study booths and opened his sketchbook back to where he'd been drawing, working on it while he waited. After a few minutes, someone behind him spoke. "Hey that looks like me!"

Kankri looked up with a frown already on his face. Cronus was there with a big, goofy smile on his face. "No it most certainly does _not_ look like you." He held up the drawing to prove it, but growled a little instead. It did look like him, what the hell was that about? He sighed. "Well whatever." He put it away. "What are you even doing here?"

"I'm supposed to be tutoring someone." He grinned. "What are you here for?"

"You've got to be fucking _kidding_ me." He threw his sketchbook back on the table. "I'm here because they think I need a tutor. I'm smart. I know what I'm doing."

He shrugged setting his things down on the table. "Well they obviously think that you need some help with something so... Here I am!" He put his hands next to his face and shook them. "What did they tell you that I'm here for? Because they didn't tell _me _anything."

He sighed. "Attendance."

"You need a tutor because you don't show up?"

"I guess. You're probably supposed to be a spy they have shoved up my ass." He frowned. "Well at least this means that I can make sure you don't say anything."

His grin widened. "Does this mean that you'll kiss me again?"

"Most certainly not."

He frowned. "Oh."

"Now get your books out and help me pretend to study."

He could tell that this was going to be a long fucking year.


	4. Mustard

Cronus sat in his room. He was still a giggling mess from spending most of his afternoon with Kankri, even though that entire time had been spent at the school pretending to study so that Kankri could avoid going home. He didn't care that that was his reason. They'd hung out, kind of, which meant that his charm was starting to _work_. He lit the candles and dug through his book, looking for the page he'd left off on.

As he worked his spell, chanting softly under his breath, he could hear his brother playing a game of _some sort_ with his friend. He didn't really know why the two even hung out. They hated each other. But for some reason that rivalry seemed to draw them to each other. So he blocked them out as they played; their shouting was just sort of irritating anyway.

Once he'd completed his casting, he put his supplies away but left his light off. Maybe Kankri would see that his window was open again. Maybe he'd come back! He laid on his bed and worked on his homework until he was too tired to stay awake. He stripped down and readied himself for bed.

The next day went much like the first up until his free period. Though again he was outside, he didn't see any sign of Kankri until about the middle of it. He smiled when he saw him. "Hey!"

Kankri rolled his eyes and sat next to him, a lit cigarette dangling from his mouth again. He threw a notebook at him. "Here. You're my tutor. Do this."

He furrowed his brow. "That's not my job, Kan." He picked up the notebook anyway and thumbed through it. "All of the answers you have answered are _right_, why do you need me to do the rest of them?"

He took a drag and blew it out through the side of his mouth. "Because I don't have the time to sit around and do all of this _monkey_ work like some people."

Cronus's scowled. "Hey some of us only do this _monkey _work because no one'll spend any time with us!" He threw the notebook at him. "So excuse me if I do the fucking monkey work! I just don't have anything like you do when you go out at night!" He picked up his own and started to work through the equations he had written down.

Kankri took another drag and raised his eyebrows. "Oh nerd rage. That's something I don't see a lot of." He picked up his notebook and started to work on the problems that he had written down in it. "So no one spends any time with you. Know why?"

He blinked rapidly. Was Kankri just making conversation with him? "Uh, I don't really get why. I mean _I_ think I'm pretty cool at least." He laughed. "I guess that most people just don't understand why being a warlock is the coolest thing ever." He laid himself down in the grass and dropped his notebook. It wasn't like he actually had to do it for that day anyway. Instead he stared up and watched the clouds, willing them to change shapes. He felt a pressure on top of him. He looked up. Kankri was holding him down by straddling his lap. "What?"

He smirked at him. "You're an interesting guy."

He smiled. "Is that good?"

He shrugged. "You're not conforming to any societal norms. And you seem weirdly confident in yourself despite your... social ineptitude." He laughed a little.

Cronus bit his lip and smiled. His charm was already working. Kankri seemed to like him more already. Was it supposed to work that way? He'd thought that it was supposed to be completed before anything was going to happen at all. He didn't care. Kankri was sitting on top of him. "Thanks I guess." He chuckled and reached up, taking his hand.

He searched his face. "What are you doing?"

"I was just holding your hand. Am I not allowed to do that?"

He scrunched his nose. "Well I'd prefer it if you didn't."

His frowned a little. "Oh, uh, sorry." He kept his hand in place, though. It was so strange having someone else's hands in his own. It felt so... So intimate.

But Kankri pulled his away and put them on either side of Cronus's head. "I said that I would _prefer_ it if you _didn't_." Cronus swallowed, again staring at Kankri's lips. He was so close. He just wanted to pull him down and kiss him again. But that fucking cigarette was still dangling from his mouth. He reached up and pulled it out, twisting it in his hands. "What exactly do you think you're doing? Did I say that you could take that?"

"No."

"Then put it back in my mouth."

"But what if I don't wanna?" He smiled brightly.

"Then you're going to deeply regret your actions." He narrowed his eyes in irritation. "I suggest that you put it back in my mouth."

"But I don't want to." His smile didn't falter as Kankri leaned forward.

"I suggest that you do."

He tilted his head and bit at his lip again. "But I'm not going to." He held it by his face and watched in his periphery as the ashes fell from the tip.

Kankri moved his hand to grab it but Cronus put the hand with the cigarette in it behind the shorter man's head. "Cronus."

"Kan?" He smiled broadly again, resting his fingers in Kankri's messy hair. He was _going _to fucking kiss him if it was the last thing he did goddammit.

"Move. Your. Hand." His tone suggested that he wasn't amused at all.

"Mm, nah. I'm comfy."

He rolled his eyes. "You're really being a little shit right now, I hope you know that."

"Eh, yeah, maybe."

"What's the point of this anyway?" He quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, uh..." He chuckled a little. "I kinda wanted to kiss you again..."

Kankri sighed. "You are such a virgin."

"That's not a bad thing."

"No I suppose it's not, but you just seem so keen on kissing me."  
He grinned. "Maybe you're just a good kisser."

"And maybe you're a terrible one."

"Hey! I haven't had much practice, all right?" He scratched a little at the back of Kankri's head, causing him to shudder a little.

"I suppose you do have that as an excuse."

He grinned broadly, raising his eyebrows. "Then will you help me get better?" Kankri chewed on the back of his lip ring and took off Cronus's glasses. "Whoa! I can't _see_ without those!"

"And you don't need to see. I just didn't want to get smacked in the face by them."

Cronus's grin became even wider. "So you're going to do it?"

"Only because you're an utterly pathetic specimen. Now... Close your eyes. They've been open every other time." Cronus did as he was told. "Part your lips, just a little." And again he did as he was told. "Good. Now stay just like that."

Cronus was so nervous. He just lay there feeling like a complete idiot until he felt a soft, wet connection on his lips. He could feel Kankri moving his lips slowly and tried to move his as well, but Kankri pulled away. "No. Just. Don't move like that."

"Like what?"

"It's like you're just rubbing your mouth on mine."

"Oh."

"Try... Try doing what I do." He leaned back down, this time pressing a light kiss and then tilting his head. Cronus sighed contentedly and did the same thing, but he wanted more from this kiss. Both of their lips were parted so... He was going to try. With a needy sound in his throat he moved his tongue out to trace against Kankri's lips. He'd seen people do this in movies. He could do _this_ much without fucking it up, right?

Kankri made a soft noise against him. He was doing good, all right! He parted his lips a little and Cronus let his tongue slide inside. He couldn't believe this was happening. He had his tongue in someone's mouth! He'd waited _years _for something like this and with Kankri it had happened in all of a few days? Fuck that charm must have been more powerful than he'd thought. He brought his other hand up into Kankri's hair and dropped the cigarette in the grass. He didn't care if Kankri threatened for that.

This kiss was worth it. Both of their tongues seemed to want to be pressed against each other, sliding sloppily but causing the two of them to make unrestrained noises in their throats. Cronus couldn't help but notice the taste of cigarettes on Kankri. Damn he thought that was just too hot for words.

But after a few minutes, Kankri pulled away. His lips and face were red, and he was panting a little as he stared at Cronus. His eyes darted over his face, as if he were searching for some sort of answer from his features. He must not have come up with one, though, as he frowned deeply. Cronus raised his eyebrows. "Was that any better, Kan?"

He huffed. "I would hardly call that _better_. You're still immensely sloppy."

He laughed a little. "Sorry, uh, first time like that you know?"

He rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. "I suppose that's an excuse." He pushed off of him and grabbed his bag, not noticing that his sketchbook had fallen out. "You should probably work on that. Though you could be _okay_ at it some day." His face was still bright red. Cronus could tell that he'd done pretty well from that reaction. "But today is not that day."

"Did you just...?"

"I did. And now I have to go. Goodbye." He turned on his heel and walked away from the school. Where he was going, Cronus had no idea.

But he looked at where Kankri had been laying before and picked up his sketchbook. He bit his lip. He knew that sketchbooks were things that most people kept private, but it was _open_ when it fell out. He decided to just look at the drawing that was on that _one_ page and...

Oh my. Now that was a surprise for him.


	5. Jade

Kankri sat in study hall at the end of the day looking for his sketchbook. He was beginning to panic, though. Where had it gone? Who could have taken it? He had the plans for his next tags in it along with some rather _personal _art. Try as he might, however, he couldn't find it anywhere. The bell rang. He begrudgingly made his way to the library for his tutoring session. He sat in a free study room, working a little on his homework. After a few minutes, Cronus came into the room and slid into the seat next to him, resting his head on his shoulder.

He frowned and raised an eyebrow. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Just resting my head."

"And what gave you the impression that I'd be okay with that?"

He watched as Cronus pulled a few books out of his bag and set one of them in front of him. "I found this on the ground. I think it fell out of your bag."

He stared down at it. It was his fucking sketchbook. "You were looking through my _sketchbook_?" He scowled. "Don't you know that that's a private thing? You shouldn't be looking through this!"

He frowned. "It was open when it fell out! I..." His face flushed. "I only saw one page." He moved his face and rested it in his hand. "It was a nice picture, though." He grinned. "I didn't know you felt that way about me."

"What? You're being ridiculous. Feel _what _way about you?"

"Those drawings were totally of me, Kan. You can't deny that."

"I can and I will since it's completely _false_." He snatched it off the table and held it protectively to his chest.

"Open it up and prove that it wasn't me then." His grin was smug. Smug enough to make Kankri want to prove him entirely and completely wrong.

He opened it up to the most recent page he'd been working on. It was detail shots. Mostly close ups of eyes and lips. The lips in each shot were pulled into different expressions. Some were silly but subdued, most were almost sensual. The eyes were a little less detailed, like if they were in real life they'd be blocked by glasses. There was a small sketch near the bottom of the page, though. Probably what Cronus thought was him. The figure was nude, sitting as if on a ledge with one leg pulled to its chest and arms wrapped around the bent knee. Nothing incriminating, but it was the same figured he'd drawn the day before, sans clothing. "I don't see why you think this is you."

He smiled wistfully. "But it is me! I _can _recognize myself, Kan. And that is _totally_me." He tilted his head a little. "I'm not quite that muscley though. I'm more of a noodle."

"And I don't care because none of this is relevant to why the fuck you think that this is you."

"Kan you got my nose down for one. And yeah I get that I got that like it's the typical Italian nose, but that's _my_nose. And the way you keep drawing those lips I mean... You even got the weird little scars on the side of mine..." He rubbed on his lower lip where pale scratches tore at his lips. "And the eyes. Just... Fucking look me in the eyes and tell me that they're not mine." He stared right at Kankri, his deep blue gaze piercing into his soul.

Kankri tried to stare him down but then looked at the sketchbook. He picked up the book and held the page next to Cronus. He had a point. The eyes were eerily similar. Both were soul piercing, but...

Cronus shoved the book down. "So?"

He let the book fall onto the table and shoved Cronus back. "So _what_?"

"So tell me! Tell me they're not mine!"

His eyes darted some, trying to avoid the blue in front of his. But he failed and green met blue at last. He shook a little. "They're not."

"Not _what_, Kankri?" He could hear the desperation in Cronus's voice, but it didn't make any sense. Why would he be so desperate over these drawings?

He chewed on the inside of his lip, worrying at a small sore that had appeared due to that very habit. "I can't tell you that they're not yours. I can't tell you that they are. They could be anyone's eyes, Cronus. I draw eyes and lips when I'm bored. And when I'm in school when I'm bored is a grand total of, oh yes, _always_."

"You're fucking lying."

"I'm doing no such thing and I'm highly offended that you'd even begin to imply that." He was going into his oldest defensive mode: acting like everything was somehow offensive and telling people to "tag their triggers." It had started when he was barely in junior high.

He'd thought that he'd grown out of it.

Cronus dropped his head a little, making him look completely defeated. "I really don't mean anything do I?"

"What?"

"You just..." He scrunched his nose and shook his head. "I'm just that one guy that knows your big _fucking _secret."

"I suppose."

"Well I don't want to be that!"

"What?"

He sighed. "Nothing."

"It's obviously not _nothing_, now tell me what you're talking about."

He scowled a little and looked away. "No."

He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't know what this is about, so if you could just man the fuck up and tell me what's wrong I'd _highly _appreciate it." He couldn't take much more of this eighth grade melodrama.

He shook his head. "Kankri like two hours ago we _kissed_."

"Yes we did. You've improved some, though you still have quite a ways to go."

He threw his head back and slumped back in his seat. "And it drives me up the _wall_that you would know that at all and not..." His face flushed an incriminating shade of pink.

"Not _what _exactly?"

He was practically shouting. "And not see me as anything more than that guy that knows your secret!"

Kankri blinked once, slowly. "Did you expect me to see you as something else?"

"Uh, yeah. Maybe just a little." Kankri could hear his voice wavering like he was about to cry.

"What do you want from me?"

He met Kankri's eyes with a fire burning in his own. "I want you to see me as something more than that. I want... I want you to let me kiss you or... Or you to kiss me! Or just..." He swayed his head side to side. "Just straight up tell me that there's nothing here."

He shrugged. "There's not... _nothing_. Though I can't really tell you that there's something."

"Then will you let me kiss you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Fine."

He leaned forward, placing a tentative hand on his cheek and pressing their lips together softly. Kankri's eyes fluttered shut, enjoying the contact despite his previous complaints. It was still sloppy, but he could at least handle how sloppy it was. It was just so _slow_, almost tender. He could feel Cronus's lip catch on his piercing, but it didn't make him pull away. Instead it seemed to spur him on. The pace picked up, both of them making needy noises in their throats. He took his chances and nipped at Cronus's lower lip, dragging his teeth as he pulled away with a smirk on his face.

Cronus's eyes were wide and he brought the hand not on Kankri's face to his lips. "So... what _was _that?"

"That was me letting you kiss me."

"But your teeth..."

"I felt that the occasion called for it."

"But why?"

"Because you looked through my fucking sketchbook." He gave a small chuckle.

"I did _no_such thing. It was _open_."

He shrugged. "Whatever. What's done is done."

Cronus started to say something in his own defense, but Kankri brought his own hands up and pulled him back for another kiss. This one was more needy than the one Cronus had led. He moved his lips at a rushed pace and, much to his surprise, he was met with even more enthusiasm than what he'd started the kiss with. Cronus's tongue poked at his lips, practically begging him to let him in. He obliged and was glad to have the furtive tongue back in his mouth. He moaned appreciatively as Cronus moved lightly against the roof of his mouth.

This kiss was just as sloppy as the last but he felt like, somehow, this one meant more. He moved a hand down to Cronus's neck, rubbing gently. The contact made Cronus's groan just a little into his mouth and Kankri took the opportunity to suck lightly at his tongue, giving him a reason to let out a low moan. With a final, hard suck he broke the kiss and panted another, soft one against his his lips with a smile.

"Kan..." Cronus was breathing hard, his face red and his lips kiss swollen.

He chewed at his lip as he had earlier. "Yes?"

He laughed a little. "Thanks."

"Mmhm."

He swallowed some and gave a half smile. "So what are we?"

"Labels are a societal construct and I feel that it's irrelevant to apply them to myself unless I know exactly what I want them to mean."

He laughed again. "So you've got no clue either." He looked down and shook his head. "If you don't mind I think I'm going home."

"Why? You just got here."

"I just need some alone time."

"I can understand. Do what you must."

"Thanks. Um..." He laughed again, nervously. "Maybe tomorrow we could do this study thing at my house?"

"Sure."

His smile widened. "Cool. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Of course."

He nodded then sat in his seat for a few moments as if debating about what he wanted to do. Eventually he packed up his things and then gave Kankri another small, chaste kiss before running away.

He was terribly surprised by this turn of events. Though he couldn't say that he was disappointed.


	6. Teal

Cronus sat in his room after getting back from the study session. Though he liked to look at it as more of a makeout session because there is no way that that was not what that was. He threw his bag next to his desk and closed the door behind him. He took his phone out of his pocket and set it up in the iHome he had on his desk, being sure to play a nice, long playlist.

Composed entirely of dubstep.

He flopped onto his bed, not even bothering to think about his homework because in that moment he could not care less. His brain was too full of Kankri. His taste, his smell, the way he _fucking sucked his tongue_. He shuddered thinking about that and reached down. He'd been hard pressed to drive home that day. It was bad enough that his brother was in the car with him the whole trip and smirked at him the whole way.

Fucking middle school asshole. He was in high school now, why was he still so obsessed with all of that middle school level bullshit?  
He shook his head to get all the thoughts of his little brother out of his head. He'd done this once with him in his head and he'd felt sick and wrong afterwards. He'd actually thrown up afterwards and couldn't look Eridan in the eyes for weeks.

But as he licked his lower lip he was brought back to thoughts of Kankri. He wondered what he looked like without his heavy leather jacket. He closed his eyes and imagined him taking it off. He knew that he always wore at least three layers. Something about his anemia giving him a lower body temperature. He remembered their teachers giving a lecture to the whole class in second grade when some boys had teased him for wearing his heavy coats and big sweaters near the end of the year. Even then all he wanted to do was reach out and give him a hug.

He shook thoughts of childhood from his mind as he thought about slowly removing all of those layers from him, stripping him down to nothing Just to see his lithe body move, and he knew that it could move. After all he'd climbed the lattice to his room.

He undid his own belt and pulled his glasses, sweater vest and his button up off before shucking his pants to the floor, leaving him in just his underwear. He laid back down and imagined Kankri there next to him. Or rather _on top of _him. His hands stroking down his chest, brushing over him ever so lightly. The imagined sensation made him shudder as he closed his eyes, palming himself through his boxers. In his mind it was Kankri's hand but then it was more. He leaned up into a kiss and his Brain-Kan sucked his tongue making him make such a needy sound that he moved down his body, sucking softly until he reached his destination. He looked up at Cronus, his gaze intense as he replace his hand with his mouth and...

"_Cro_!"

Cronus jumped when he heard his brother's voice over his music. He was breathing hard and could barely see, but he tucked himself back into his boxers and fumbled his way to the door. He opened it a crack and looked out at him. "What is it, Danny?"

His brother rolled his eyes behind his thick rimmed glasses. "Dad says he wants you to turn down the fuckin' noise and I gotta say that I agree."

He gave a huff of a laugh. "Go fuck yourself, Dan."

He quirked an eyebrow and gave his best shit eating grin. "Why, Cro, it looks like that's just what you were doin' wasn't it?"

Cronus narrowed his eyes, only partially to see. "You just wanted me to not get off."

"Yeah, well it is my duty as a little bother."

He put his hand on Eridan's forehead and pushed him back. "Get!"

Eridan scoffed as the door was slammed in his face, but Cronus didn't care. He walked back to his phone and stopped the music. He sighed. It was no good trying to finish what he'd started. He knew that he either had to be home alone or have his music playing extra loud whenever he did. He was just too fucking _loud_otherwise. He rolled his eyes and put his glasses back on. He didn't bother with the rest of his clothes. He'd just eat something from his mini-fridge. Not like his dad ever cooked anyway.

He locked his door as he picked up his bag. He pulled his book out and opened up to the page with the needed incantation. He laid out his supplies and lit his candles, performing the ritual as he had for the past few weeks. He nodded slowly as he put his things away and gathered his homework.

As he did his homework he realized that he may have made a huge mistake in inviting Kankri over the next day. The next day was Friday. He could... He could potentially ask Kankri to stay over. They could make-out again. That'd be nice. But would he even go for that? He'd probably turn him down. But if he needed to finish the tag he'd been working on a few days ago... Then maybe it wasn't such a bad plan. He got up to grab his phone, thinking that he should text him, but his spirits dropped when he realized that he didn't have his number. He sighed and threw the phone back on his desk. He unlocked his door and walked to the end of the hall where the bathroom was. He locked himself in and stared at his reflection in the mirror.

Crooked nose. Stupid scars from a fight he'd gotten into as a kid. Ugly as fuck glasses. Chapped lips. Hair that was always far too messy to do anything with or too flat to even bother to make look cool.

HIs expression quickly turned sour. He knew he could be hot if he knew how to do it, but at this rate he'd never figure it out. His dad and his brother had it figured out, but somehow that just skipped him over. Eridan said it was how crazy he was over wizards, but that was a load of bullshit. That kid had loved wizards as much as he had until he and Sollux had started hanging out more. Now he was just "too cool" for everything that Cronus was into.

He shook his head and opened the medicine cabinet, looking through it. He didn't know why he was even in here anymore. He didn't have to piss. He couldn't finish himself off from earlier. Instead he took a shower and went to bed.

The next day he found himself outside during his free period waiting for Kankri to show up and, lo and behold, he did. He sat himself down next to Cronus and, before Cronus could say anything, he started to speak. "So today is Friday."  
Cronus laughed a little. "Yeah it is."

"You still want me to come over?"

"Yes! I'd really love it if you did, I mean you don't _have _to but I'd really love it!"

"Mmhm..." He sighed loudly. Cronus couldn't help but noticed the lack of his cigarette today. "Well. I have some business to take care of. I've already told my dad that we're going to be studying and that I'll be going to a friend's house afterwards."

"Oh do you want to stay over? I mean I've got room so you don't have to worry!"

Kankri laughed. It wasn't his usual bitter or snaky laugh. This one was crystalline and pure. "I suppose I _could _but I'm afraid that I won't be doing much sleeping. I've got to be extra careful with this one since I was so close to being caught the last time."

"Then why finish it?"

He sighed. "Because this one is going to be the last one for a while I think." He blinked and stared off into the distance.

Cronus leaned in a little, his expression composed of nothing but concern. "Is everything okay?"

"No."

"Do you... wanna talk about it?"

"No."

"Would you like a hug?"

He watched as Kankri's Adam's apple bobbed and then as he licked at his lips. "Yes."

Cronus didn't press him further, he just wrapped his arms around him, surprised that one of the toughest kids in the school was breaking down in front of him. He could feel a damp patch on his shoulder but he didn't dare bring it up. Whatever was happening it was up to Kankri to tell him.

After a few more minutes in the hug Kankri pulled back a little and pressed his lips to Cronus's. He didn't know what was wrong, but a kiss was always welcome. He leaned into it, cupping his face in his hand. This kiss was less sloppy than their others had been. Cronus realized that it probably had something to do with him, but didn't think on it much. Instead he just hoped that Kankri would be okay.

He didn't have long to think about it before Kankri pulled back and wiped his eyes and mouth before looking up at Cronus. "I drove today and my things are in my car. Meet me out there and we'll carpool to your house. I can get my car later."

"Uh, yeah that sounds great."

"Good." He stood up wordlessly, his face empty and emotionless.

"Hey Kan?"

"Yes?"

"Will you tell me what's wrong someday?"

"Maybe."

He gave a little half smile. "All right. Just let me know if there's anything I can do."

He glanced down at him. "Just meet me at my car and take me to your house. That's what you can do for me."

He swallowed. "Yeah, cool. I'll see you then."

"Good." He walked away without another word.

Cronus sat for a while, more confused than offended. Had his charm done something? Had it gone wrong? Had something extra fallen into the circle? He scratched at his head but couldn't think of anything that could have happened. It must not have been something he'd done.

But at least if it was he'd know what was wrong.


	7. Olive

Kankri sat on the hood of his car, bag slung over a shoulder and bulky headphones over his ears. He was basting music to ease the pain. It never seemed to _really_ work, but it was worth a shot. Maybe he just didn't listen to the right music. After all, Metallica wasn't exactly soul soothing on the best of days, let alone one like today. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and thought about calling Porrim and talking to her. She was more of a help when he was in moods like this than anyone else, but he was going to Cronus's. Or at least that's what he'd told his father.

He was really going out to put up something a bit more meaningful. It would put some of his old works to shame and anyone that knew what he'd done in the past might almost be surprised that it was him putting this one up. He had everything that he needed for it in his bag. Spray paint. Respirator. Handmade stencils. Change of clothes. He was ready.

A voice brought him out of his head. "Kan!"

He jumped a little, much to his chagrin, and brought his eyes up from the ground where his gaze had fallen. Cronus was right in front of him, staring down. He frowned a little. "You're tall."

Cronus burst into laughter. "Well yeah, how did you not notice before?"

He shrugged. "We'd never stood next to each other before." A pause. "Or at least not this close."

"Huh... Yeah I guess you're right." He grimaced. "But we've passed in the halls a lot."

Kankri sighed. "I don't really care. Let's go." He slid off his car and was a little relieved that the height difference wasn't as big as he'd first thought. He hated being shorter than others. He wasn't exactly _short, _but he was still just barely average height at five-eight.

Cronus brought him out of his head again. "So what do you want to do until you've got to go out tonight?"

Kankri's eyes went wide. "Don't fucking say anything out here!" He slapped him in the shoulder and looked around to make sure that no one had heard.

"Oh, sorry!" He pushed his glasses back up his nose. "I didn't think..."

"That's the problem. Didn't think. Don't think. Never thinking. Thoughtless!" He practically growled. "It's a fucking curse."

"What?"

"People. That's the problem with them. They don't fucking think. They sit around like sheep, waiting to be told what's cool. Waiting to be told what to think. Waiting, waiting, waiting." He looked up and spoke softly. "And here I am. The wolf in sheep's clothing. On the prowl to get the other animals out of that clothing too." His face flushed a little, fully aware of his poor analogy. "It's my job to fucking make people think." Cronus put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to stop. "What?"

"It's not your job to make people think."

"Yes it is. Someone has to get these fucking sheep to stop bleating."

Cronus pulled him into a hug and rested his chin on his head. "That's the trick. No one can get them to stop. A person is smart, but people are dumb, panicky dangerous animals."

He laughed. "Did you just quote _Men in Black_ at me?"

He swallowed. "Yes."

He smiled and rested his head on his chest, bringing up his arms to hug him back. "That was... actually what I needed to feel better. Thank you." He stayed like that for a moment before pulling away. "Where's your car?" Cronus pointed a ways out to where Kankri could see someone standing by what looked like an old VW Bug. "You've got to be fucking kidding."

"What? You don't like my car?"

"It's a _Bug_."

"No no no. It's a _classic_." They started walking towards it and Kankri saw that not one, but two people standing by the car.

"Is there even going to be _room_ in there?"

"Of course there will! I mean Dan and I are pretty tall... And I guess Sol's pretty tall too, but you're not..."

"I am fucking tall for my family thank you very much."

"What?"

"With the exception of my father I am _the_ tallest person on either side of my family including my extended family."

"I was going to say that you're not as tall as us, wow." He furrowed his brow a little. "I guess sorry for letting you know that there'd be room." He kept walking towards the car and Kankri could feel his mood creeping back on him. He knew that it wasn't gone for the whole day. He just wished that it would be.

They drove to Cronus's house with dubstep blasting the entire way. It was an almost uncomfortable juxtaposition, though it was strange to see just how _into_ the music Cronus was. No one bothered trying to speak, though. The music was far too loud. Kankri couldn't help but notice the little looks being passes between the two in the back. He knew those looks. The looks of secret keepers.

But he didn't have long to think about it. After a couple songs they were at Cronus's house. Kankri hadn't had time to appreciate just how large it was when he'd seen it the first time, but it was _huge_. Easily the biggest house he'd ever been to, but somehow it managed to have a distinctly homey feel to it. They entered and everyone started to pull off their shoes so Kankri rolled his eyes and did the same, throwing his boots in his bag instead of by the door.

They walked through the foyer to the rest of the house and Cronus's father stood in their path. "Cronus. Who is this?"

"Oh, dad, this is Kankri! The friend I told you about, remember?"

Cronus's father was intimidating. He was the same height as Cronus, but it was apparent that, unlike his elder son, he was actually rather strong. The faded green anchor on his arm and the way that he held himself was all that Kankri needed to see to be able to tell that he'd been in the navy at some point. His father narrowed his eyes. "And did you ask if he could come over?"

"Dad, he's not having a great day, okay?" He crossed his arms over his chest and tried to make himself a little taller. "We're going to study up in my room and he won't be any trouble."

It was a hard thing to convince any one of. Kankri knew that people would see him and assume a lot of things about him from his piercings and his wardrobe. Even his unkempt, black hair made people think he was a troublemaker. Honestly he didn't care. He _was_ a trouble maker. But as a kid it had bothered him to no end. Back before...

He felt a hand on his head. He looked up and saw that he was being turned to face Cronus's father. "Now you're not goin' to cause any trouble here, _right_?"

"I most certainly am not, sir." He could play the good boy. He'd done most of his life. He did it at home. He could do it here.

"Good." He narrowed his eyes again. "If I hear a any trouble from you..."

"You won't, sir."

He looked at Cronus. "Should I believe him?"

"Yeah, dad."

He looked between them and just walked away, rolling his eyes. Evidently he didn't have time for this. Kankri glanced up at Cronus with a slight smirk. "Your father seems to hate me already."

Cronus chuckled a little. "Uh, yeah I guess so."

"Did you tell him something?"

"No Ampora man will ever kiss and tell."

Kankri laughed. "That's not what I meant, but I suppose I'm grateful for that as well." He watched as a deep blush spread over Cronus's face and he lead him upstairs to his room. It looked different in the daylight. Very neat. Everything in its place. And posters of... Wait. Those were prints of his tags. "I... Didn't realize you were a fan."

Cronus laughed a little. "Yeah I guess I am."

"So how did you know who I was that night?"

"You smelled like spray paint and, uh, I guess I knew that you were supposed to be like our age I guess?" He threw his bag to the ground and Kankri followed suit, closing the door behind them. "That and that sign on your bag."

"It's the _Cancer_ symbol. It doesn't mean anything."

"No but the little line connecting it does. Usually those pines are like connected on the ends instead."

He smiled as Cronus flopped onto the bed. "Observant."

"Yeah it's a benefit of being a huge nerd."

Kankri sat on the edge next to him. "I suppose." He looked around more. He wasn't sure what he was expecting the room to look like in the daylight. "I thought that there'd be more wizards."

"Uh, my dad doesn't really like me being into magic so much. I keep that on the down low." He laughed. "Not that the street art is much better, but he tells me that at least it's something real so he let me keep them up."

"I'm sure he'd hate it if he knew who I was then."

"No he hates everyone already." He sat up and leaned against Kankri. "Though he might hate that you keep kissing me."

"Do you really care?"

"In a weird way, yeah. He's still my dad."

"What about your mom?"

He shrugged. "Divorce. Nothing special." He smiled. "What's your family like?"

Kankri could feel his emotionless mask creeping over his face again as he stared at Cronus. "Nothing special. Me. My brother. My dad."

Cronus furrowed his brow. "Is that what's wrong?"

"What?"

"You were upset earlier. You still are. Is your family what's making you upset?"

He laughed bitterly and looked away. "You could say that."

Cronus put a hand on his face. "Hey. Tell me what's wrong."

"Why?"

"Because it might help me find a way to make you feel better." He smiled.

Kankri sighed. "It was six years ago today. October 9, 2003." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "My mom got sick. _Really_ sick."

"But you said..."

"I had a mom back then, you know." His voice was flat. Emotionless. He was simply stating facts, not wanting to relive the past. "But she was sick. And no one could figure out what was wrong. She kept testing negative on the lab work. They told us that there was nothing physically wrong with her." He swallowed, trying to hold back the emotions. "She was hospitalized when I started seventh grade and she didn't get better. She didn't get out. She died when we brought her there. Not right away. But she wasted away slowly." He looked at Cronus. "It basically _killed_ my father, too. He wouldn't eat. He wouldn't go to work. He wouldn't even take us to school." He grimaced. "None of us did very well for a while." He sighed and flopped on his back. "So today is just a shitty day that makes me remember my mom and how much I miss her. Satisfied?"

Cronus laid down next to Kankri and wrapped his arms around him. "But _you're_ still here, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"So that means that you did okay. You're alive. You're well! And you're amazing to top it off."

Kankri turned his head towards Cronus. "You think I'm amazing?"

"No I know you're amazing." He pulled him closer. "You're strong, Kankri, but you don't have to be an emotionless fuck. Go ahead and feel it. There's nothing wrong with that."

Kankri swallowed. "No! I have to be strong for my dad!"

"Do you see your dad here right now?"

"Of course not but that's not the fucking point!"

"Kankri. Just stop holding it back."

"Holding what back?"

"You were crying on my shoulder today. It's okay. Just let it _out_."

Kankri leaned against Cronus's shoulder, trying to let it out. It didn't take long. The years of pent up emotion just came pouring out of him as he wrapped his arms around Cronus and held onto him. Neither of them knew how long they stayed like that, but eventually Kankri stopped crying and just pulled closer, resting his head on Cronus's shoulder. "This... This never happened." His voice was weak.

"Of course not." Cronus's voice was soothing. He could feel a deep rumbling in his chest when he spoke and it made him smile a little.

"Thank you."

Cronus grinned mischievously. "What for?"

Kankri looked up about to remind him but just laughed. "Just for being here." He leaned up and gave him a chaste kiss.

"It's no problem."  
Kankri pulled out of his arms again and sat up, wiping his eyes. "Let's..." He laughed a little and smiled. "Let's just do something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. You do your homework. I'll draw."

Cronus sat up and smiled a little. "Yeah that sounds good." He pointed to his bag. "Just toss me my bag. We can sit up here if you want."

He smiled again. He felt like he'd been doing an awful lot of that lately. He grabbed their bags and sat on the bed with Cronus. "Here." He sat the other boy's next to him and then pulled out a pen and his sketchbook. He felt like pen would be good today. Something that would last. After what felt like a few moments but was probably more like an hour, he looked up and watched as Cronus did his work.

It was then, with a sudden realization, that he felt a little pull in his heart. He swallowed and looked back down.

Somehow, in the span of a few days, he could feel himself falling for the boy that knew his secret, Cronus Ampora.


	8. Chocolate

Cronus sat on his bed trying to do his homework but just felt too distracted by Kankri's presence. He knew that soon he'd have to work on his charm And he most certainly couldn't with Kankri there. He cleared his throat a little and the other boy looked up from his drawing. "Yes, Cronus?"

"So... When are you going out tonight?'

He hummed a little. "I don't think that I am."

"What?"

He laughed. "I'm just going to stay here."

"_What_?"

He looked him in the eye. "Is there a problem with me just staying here?"

"Well no, I just..." He ran a hand through his wavy hair, pushing it back some. "It's unexpected I guess."

He sighed as he went back to drawing. "I suppose so."

That seemed to be the end of that discussion. Cronus pushed his glasses up and hummed a little. "Aren't you hot?"

"Hm?"

"In your jacket. My dad keeps it like eighty degrees in the house year round."

He sat for a while as if realizing just how uncomfortable the heat was making him. "It is a little warm, actually." He pulled the jacket off his shoulders. It was amazing how much smaller he looked without it. How unthreatening it made him seem. Cronus swallowed hard, doing his best to forget about his fantasy from the day before. "Are you okay?"

"What?"

He put his jacket aside and tilted his head back a little. "You just look worried about something." He put his sketchbook next to his jacket and leaned back. "Everything okay?"  
Cronus laughed a little. He could tell him the truth. That was _sure_ to go over well. _Oh everything's just fine Kan! Just imaging stripping you down and kissing every inch of your body, Kan! Just want to reach under those four shirts and into your pants and make you come undone, Kan! Just wish that it didn't take you this fucking long to notice that I was even in your grade, Kan!_ He smiled. "I'm fine, Kan."

Kankri sighed and frowned a little. "After what just happened here today I'm going to call _bullshit_ on "I'm fine" because everybody knows that it's a huge fucking lie. What's up?"

He looked down and shook his head. "It's stupid."

"I'm sure it's not."

He bit his lip and glanced up. "If I tell you then you've got to promise not to hate me."

He rolled his eyes. "I won't hate you just tell me."

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "So... You know we've been in the same grade for, well, basically since I can remember? I don't think you ever were in another district."

"No I've been at PS 216 since Kindergarten."

"Right yeah, me too." He laughed a little. "Well, uh, you never really talked to me. Before this year, you know? And if you did I don't think you remembered. But I remembered you. Like I guess the first time I really _remember _anything about you is from like second grade? When those guys kept teasing you about all of your layers."

Kankri scrunched his nose. "What are you trying to say, Cronus?"

He laughed again. "Well I guess I've just always been... Drawn to you." He looked up at Kankri, smiling nervously. "You've just always been so interesting. From that day I just started to _notice_ you and I guess, well... I guess I just sort of..." he swallowed, looking back down at his hands and speaking barely above a whisper, "...slowly fell in love with you."

"Cronus..."

He shook his head. "Forget I said anything. I told you it was stupid just forget it all. I'm just the guy that knows your secret. You can leave. You never have to see me again! I'll—!" He was cut off by Kankri's hand on his face pulling him to look at him. "Kan?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Shut up." He leaned forward and kissed him. The angle was awkward for the both of them, but it didn't seem to matter. The kiss was sweeter than the ones that had preceded it. Cronus could swear that Kankri was making humming sounds in his throat before he pulled away smiling.

His eyes got wide as he laughed, a wide grin spread over his face. "So... You love me...too?"

"Cronus I've only really known you three days. I'd say that _love_ might be a little strong at this point. But I do seem to like you quite a bit, though I'm not entirely sure why." He walked on his knees over to where Cronus sat and slung a leg over his lap to effectively straddle him. "I like you more than enough to keep kissing you. Okay?" He smirked as he wrapped his arms around his neck.

"Uh, yeah." His face was completely flushed as Kankri brought their lips together again, letting his tongue tease at Cronus's lips before pulling back a little to rest their foreheads together.

"Can I just take off your glasses? They're in the _way_." His voice sounded needy.

Cronus pulled them down his face and threw them carelessly to the side. He didn't care about his glasses with Kankri here on his lap. He tilted his head a little and brought their lips together, moving them hungrily. Kankri responded with as much force, making soft noises in his throat.

He leaned heavily into Cronus, bringing their chests flush together and twining a hand in his hair. He teased at Cronus's lips with his tongue, drawing it over them slowly and making him moan. He slipped into his mouth and let it swipe against his. Cronus decided to make a daring move and put his hands on Kankri's hips, one trailing up to go under the shirts. He felt Kankri shudder just a little under his touch but he broke the kiss this time. "So, Kan, can we just... take these off? They're in the way." He knew how pathetic he sounded but Kankri smiled and pushed him backwards onto the bed. He couldn't help but watch as the boy on his lap pulled off each shirt. Each one made him look smaller, though not as small as he'd imagined. When he was down to bare skin on his chest, Cronus couldn't help but stare at how stocky he actually was. His arms and shoulders looked like he knew how to fight. The muscles there thicker and more defined than he'd anticipated. His chest and abs looked like he'd spent time getting into shape. Or maybe it was all that running he did. He didn't care.

Kankri fucking Vantas was _hot_.

And not only was he hot, but he was leaning down to kiss him again. This time he moved his lips against Cronus's and moved his tongue a little but instead of pressing it into his mouth he started to kiss and suck at his jaw and neck, still making those little noises in his throat. Cronus wrapped his arms under Kankri's and grabbed at his back. He could feel the muscle beneath his fingers move as Kankri did. He could also feel himself becoming hard.

Kankri chuckled and hummed against his neck before whispering. "I can feel you Cronus. And we're not doing that just yet."

"Wha?" He was incredibly confused. His lust addled brain couldn't comprehend just what Kankri had said.

"I don't fuck _anyone_ I've known for so short a time." He pushed up and held himself over Cronus. "This is nice, though." He smirked.

Cronus blinked a few times, letting the whole situation sink in at last. "What about all those rumors?"

"What rumors?"

"Um... That you like... are celibate or whatever?" Kankri burst into cackling laughter. "I... What? What's so funny?"

He made a little sound as he ground down against Cronus, forcing the other boy to make an admittedly _loud _noise. "Does that feel very _celibate_ to you?"

He shook his head, panting. "Fuck no."

"Well those _rumors_ were true a few years ago." He bit his lip and smirked again. "But that little "vow" went right out the window along with telling people _while they were speaking_ to tag their triggers." He laughed as he rolled off of Cronus to lay beside him. "But for right now, I'd like to just make out with you." He gave a small smile. "Though I hope you're all right with me just _liking_ you so far."

"Uh yeah. Yeah that's cool." His voice came out higher than he'd wanted it to be.

"Do you need to do something about that?" He looked down at Cronus's completely obvious hardon.

"Um, yeah. Yeah I do."

"Well don't mind me, go ahead." He laughed.

He shook his head. "Can't."

"Why not? Shy?"

"Uh, yeah, but it's not that." He laughed nervously.

He licked his lips a little. "Then what is it?"

He felt his face flush again and whispered. "I'm _loud_."

"Ooh you're a screamer." He kissed his neck softly. "That'll be _fun_."

"What?"

"Nothing." He nuzzled against him but shivered. "It's so fucking cold in here!"

"Oh shit, sorry. You can put your shirts back on if you want."

Kankri sat up with a little disappointed sound and pulled his shirts back on. He looked down. "Sorry about that."

"Shit, uh, no it's fine! You've got like anemia yeah? It's totally fine."

He smiled. "Thank you."

"For what?"

He shrugged and laid back down once he had two of the shirts on. "Just for being a relatively decent person."

"Relatively decent compared to what?"

His voice was flat. "Compared to the other guys I've wanted to fuck, who do you think?"

"What?"

He snickered. "I tend to go for assholes."

"You know some would say that _you're_ a little bit of an asshole."

He looked up, a sneer on his face. "I _know_ I'm an asshole."

"Yeah, well, I love you anyway so there!" He kissed Kankri lightly.

"Well you're a bit of an idiot so I suppose there's no helping that."

"Hey!"

He laughed and kissed him. "No, you're very smart."

"You're damn right I am."

They laid like that for about an hour without another word. Cronus was just glad that he'd worked up the courage to say it. He didn't even know if it was his charm or just... _him_ that was working on Kankri anymore. But once Kankri went to take a shower, he didn't risk missing a night. He set up and did everything quickly, being sure to put things away just as quickly. It was going to be an interesting night.


	9. Indigo

Kankri came back from the shower and was surprised to see Cronus already under his covers. He smiled as he toweled off and slipped in next to him. He wrapped his arms around him and nuzzled against his shoulder. He fell asleep surprisingly quickly and was glad when he woke up that the whole thing hadn't been a dream.

The weekend went much like Friday had. Kankri stayed over at Cronus's through Saturday as well and the two of them continued to kiss and explore each other, relishing in the little noises and the way they seemed to know the little spots to kiss or touch to draw them out. But Sunday rolled around and Kankri had to go home, else his father would worry.

The next few weeks, they met outside everyday during Cronus's free period and kissed lazily in the grass, being sure not to cause too much noise or to draw attention to themselves. It may have been their senior year, but some discrepancy felt right, according to Cronus. Kankri didn't care. He just loved the way they fit together at the mouth. The way his nerd tasted. The way he could break through that facade and get him to be a little more wild, even though he didn't know what he was doing.

In the middle of November, Kankri still had yet to put up his last tag. He just found himself too distracted by Cronus. But it was nice to have someone so nice with him instead of the usual burly assholes that he went for. Muscle bound and gruff, with a nasty tendency towards violence. He could handle himself in a fight, but he didn't like to get into them.

But this particular Friday, Cronus had told him that his brother was going to be over at a friends and his father was going to be out of town until after Thanksgiving. So Kankri took the liberty of inviting himself over. That day after school, which Kankri had found himself going to remarkably more of since he found out that he and Cronus had a frankly unbelievable amount of classes together in this final year, he went to the Ampora's.

He let himself in, as Cronus had said to, and made his way up to his room. He threw his bag by the desk and laid down on Cronus's bed. He loved the way he _smelled_. He was clean, but there was definitely something more manly in his smell than anything he would ever let on. He chewed on the sleeve of his shirt while he waited for him to come in. It took him almost unbearably long to get out of the school sometimes.

But when he heard the door close and a bag hit the floor He got up and pushed Cronus onto the bed. He made sure he was laying comfortably on it as he straddled his lap and grinned down at him.

Cronus raised his eyebrows. "Uh, Kan?"

"Tonight's the night, Cronus." He could feel his voice dripping with want. It had only been about a month, but he knew what he wanted and he wanted it _now_.

"Night for what, babe?" His eyes were wide. So precious.

He wiggled his hips a little on top of him and chuckled widely. "The night you get to fuck me senseless."

His jaw hung wide and quickly he had a shark-like grin spread across his face. "Really?"

"Mmhm." He started to pull off his shirts.

"Why tonight?"

Once the first shirt was off and tossed aside he looked down at him and smiled. "Well I think that's pretty fucking obvious."

"Uh, not to me it's not? What changed?"

He sighed and smiled warmly at him. "Well. In the past month I think that it's safe to say I've come to love you."

"Really?"

He leaned down and kissed him softly. "Really really." He leaned back up and took off the rest of his shirts. He leered at Cronus. "Now get the fuck out of your clothes." Cronus didn't have to be told twice. He pulled his glasses off and threw them to the side and quickly did the same with his sweater and undershirts. He'd taken to wearing extra shirts to make Kankri feel more comfortable. He was beginning to regret that decision. As he reached to unzip his pants, Kankri put his hands over his. "Nope._Patience_." He pulled his own pants off, leaving him in just his boxers. He watched as Cronus squirmed, his breathing hard.

He leaned down again and this time he pressed a needier kiss to his lips, making low noises in his throat as he did. Cronus put his hands on his hips, enjoying the angle of Kankri on his lap and the little noises he made. But after a few moments of the kiss Kankri pulled back and got off of Cronus to go to his bag. He looked back at him and laughed. "Get undressed." He picked up his bag and pulled out a box of condoms and some lube, then walked back to the bed. He put the lube within Cronus's grasp but kept one of the foil packets in his teeth as he shucked his own boxers.

He looked down at Cronus, taking his body in. He'd seen him without a shit before, but completely naked he was like a whole new story unfolding before him. His olive skin was flushed in parts, though the darker skin tone made what little muscle he had more noticeable. His arms were long lean, much like his legs. His chest was undefined though due to how light he was, his abs were somewhat apparent. But none of that is was Kankri was studying. He was more interested in Cronus's newly exposed cock. He straddled his legs, just below it and ripped open the foil in his mouth. Cronus furrowed his brow. "Why do we...?"

"Because getting come out of my ass would be a pain." He rolled it down Cronus's (admittedly sizable) length and bit his lip. He looked back at Cronus. "Grab some of that lube and put it in your hand." Cronus did as he was told. "Get some on your fingers." Cronus did so and he moved so that he was kneeling about his chest. "Now. Put one in."

"What?"

"Just _do_ it." He shuddered a little as Cronus once again did as he was told. This time he moved a little without needing encouragement. Kankri let out a low moan as he moved it and looked down at him. "Another." He added a second finger and moved again, pressing a little deeper and spreading them when he noticed that Kankri's breath had hitched when he'd done it accidentally. "_Another_." He swallowed and pressed in a third. Kankri was breathing hard as he stared Cronus down. "Now. Put some lube on your fucking cock."

"Huh?" Kankri could tell that he didn't want to move his hand, and honestly he didn't want to feel empty. But the fingers were just to get ready. After all, His hands were so much smaller than Cronus's, and he was so much _larger_ than he'd anticipated. He let out a needy sound when the fingers were pulled out with a wet _schlck_, but he kept up his in control appearance. He could hear Cronus slicking himself off and moved back some, positioning himself over his tip.

"That's enough." His voice was husky and his breathing uneven. "Now _fuck me_."

Cronus moaned at the command and grabbed one of Kankri's hips with one hand while he held himself flush with his stretched entrance with the other. Kankri pressed down on top of him and they both let out long moans at the sensation. Slowly but surely he lowered himself all the way down and kept eye contact. Through his pants he smirked at Cronus. "Fucking _move_."

Both hands now on Kankri's hips, Cronus tried moving but laying on his back made it difficult to do more than roll up into him. "Fuck... Kan, I... I can't move like this." He shook his head and groaned, rolling his head back. Kankri reached down and pulled him up to a sitting position.

"We'll do that later then." He kissed him deeply, then let himself fall onto his back. "For now just," he let out a small move as they repositioned themselves. "_move_."

Cronus was kneeling now, and still holding onto his hips. He brought his own back slowly and began with little thrusts, each one punctuated with more talking than was entirely necessary. It was as if, even in the throes of pleasure, he still needed to talk to keep himself going. But eventually he picked up his pace, responding to the noises that Kankri was making.

Kankri's head was thrown back as he moaned loudly with each thrust. He moved into Cronus with each thrust and couldn't help trying to stay in control. "_Harder_! Fucking! Just _harder_!" Cronus listened and thrust harder, moving a little faster as well. Kankri's noises picked up with the thrusts as he shouted at Cronus how he wanted him to move. Their voices and the slap of skin on skin had become a cacophony with the creaking of the mattress below them. All of the pleasure Kankri could feel was only amplified when he felt Cronus's hands tighten on his hips. Both of them were on the edge and their movements were showing that. Moving so hard and so fast, neither of them could tell where one began and the other ended anymore. It was like they'd always been one being, separated by god knows what. Kankri reached up a hand and put it in Cronus's hair, pulling him down into a kiss as he whispered against his lips. "I love you."

With that simple statement Cronus's eyes went wide and he let out a long, low scream as he came long and hard, still thrusting as he let Kankri pull everything from him. Soon after Kankri came as well, hot and sticky semen splattering against both of their stomach's and faces. They stayed in the same position for a few moments before Kankri's legs gave out and he slid down, collapsing into a shaky puddle. Cronus laughed a little and fell beside him, though the sensation of the cooling condom had become rather uncomfortable. "Um, I'll be back." He leaned over and gave Kankri a soft kiss before waking shakily to the bathroom to throw it away in the toilet, sending it to where none would be the wiser of what had just happened.

Kankri watched as he left and curled up, warm from the afterglow, but cold from the lack of his heat. He hadn't noticed how warm he was until he was gone, but now that he was empty it was apparent. When Cronus laid down behind him he pressed up into him and groaned. "Cronus?"

"Yeah babe?"

He laughed a little. "You're better at that than I thought you'd be."

"Hey!"

"No no no, it's a good thing." He practically purred as he pressed more against him. "I definitely want more of that, but..." He yawned. "I think a nap sounds fucking _fantastic_."

Cronus nestled his head in Kankri's hair. "Yeah that's sounds pretty amazing."

"Then let's sleep for a little, okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah that sounds awesome." He pulled the covers around them, being sure that more were around Kankri than himself and then fell asleep.

Kankri laid there for a moment, smiling. He'd lost himself in this boy. And he didn't regret it at all.


	10. Navy

Cronus lay wrapped around Kankri and completely content with life. He'd just woken up, though he could tell from his breathing that Kankri was still sleeping soundly. He leaned down some and kissed at the base of his neck as he rubbed circles in his sides with his thumbs. The whole thing just felt so surreal. The two have them had just... made love? Had sex? Fucked? He didn't know which verb it was. It was tender, but so visceral. He looked at his face, wondering how all of the angry pretense could melt away in his sleep like that.

Kankri stirred a little in his sleep, making a little noise as he pressed back against him. His eyes fluttered opened slowly and he glanced back at Cronus, smiling. "Well good morning sunshine." He leaned up and pressed a soft kiss into his lips. "Sleep well?"

"You bet I did." He pressed back into the kiss lazily, enjoying all of the skin to skin contact and wondering how long you'd stay like this.

Kankri pulled back from the kiss and looked around. "It's pretty dark out. What time is it?" He wasn't really asking, but he looked at the clock on the bedside table. "It's already past nine... Well then." He hummed and gave Cronus another kiss. "Want to do something _bad_?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Are you trying to make me into a deviant?"

"I think what we did earlier already did." Another small kiss. "Though possibly. So?"

He smiled. "Sure. Can I just take a shower first?"

"We should both do that actually." He pushed the covers off and pulled out of Cronus's arms, walking back over to his bag.

Cronus couldn't help but stare at his back as he moved. He'd never noticed the little strings of tattoos on his shoulders. "What do those mean?"

"Hm?"

"On your shoulders."

He put one hand on his back to rub at one. "Oh. Well they're actually dates."

"Really?" He smiled as he got up and stood behind him, placing his hand over Kankri's.

"Yeah." He bit at his lip as they stood like that. "They're for my mom."

"There are a lot of these back here for just your mom."

"My dad and my brother's birthday's are back there too."

"Anything else?"

He swallowed. "Strength and harmony." He laughed a little. "My brother and my middle names."

"Which is yours?"

"Jìn ." It was strange hearing the Chinese come from his lips was strange, almost intoxicating. "For strength, drive, spirit."

"And Kar?"

"Hépíng. For harmony, peace, serenity." He laughed. "It's funny though, isn't it?"

"What?"

"You've met Karkat." His voice was exasperated.

Cronus laughed a little. "Yeah he's pretty much the opposite of peaceful isn't he?"

"He's exactly the opposite." He grabbed Cronus's hand. "Let's not talk about him though. Let's go take a shower."

The two went to the shower and Cronus started to clean himself off without a second thought until he felt Kankri's hands on his hips and his lips against his neck. "Whoa, Kan, what are you doing?"

He sucked hard and pulled off with a small popping sound, smirking up at Cronus. "What you didn't think that we'd be doing anything in here?"

"Uh, not really no." He laughed. "You want me to fall asleep out there?"

This earned a deep sigh. "I suppose not." He moved away and washed himself quickly, getting himself clean before Cronus had even finished washing his hair. After he'd gone through his rigorous personal grooming measures, Cronus stepped out of the shower and toweled himself off carefully. He wandered back to his room and was surprised to see Kankri pulling things out of his bag.

"Babe?" He could feel a big, stupid grin on his face. He looked up at Cronus, his hair pulled back and out of his face with what appeared to be a Hello Kitty headband Cronus burst out laughing. "Oh my fuck, babe, that is..."

"Completely stupid, I know. It was a gift from Turntech and Timaeus."

"Whoa you know them?"

"Of course I do. How else would I get into some of those clubs to put up art?"

He made an impressed noise in his throat with a raise of his eyebrows. "That's pretty cool. Why Hello Kitty though?"

He shrugged. "Irony. Like pretty much _everything_ they do, actually." He pulled out extra clothes from his bag at threw them at Cronus. "Put these on."

"What?"

"You're taller than me but I've got a bit more muscle, so the shirt should fit. I'm sure we can steal some of your brother's clothing as well."

"Why do I need your clothes?"

He smiled. "If you're going to be _bad_ you may as well look the part, right?"

"I guess." He laughed as he pulled on a pair of clean boxers and his glasses.

"Do you have any contacts?"

"Yeah, but I don't like wearing them. They're kinda itchy after a while."

"Well I'm going to have you wear them tonight while we're out."

He shrugged. "I'll go put them in now." He walked to the bathroom and took a few minutes to put in his contacts. When he got back, rubbing his eyes and blinking rapidly, he sat on the bed and leaned back. "That better, babe?"

"Yes, thank you. Now put on those clothes."

"All right, all right." He looked at the shirt and pulled it over his head. It felt a little loose in the arms, but his shoulders were wide enough for it to be okay. Though he felt like his stomach was probably going to be showing if he stood. "How do I look?" He grinned widely.

"Honestly? Like a nerd in one of my old shirts. Let's go steal some of your brother's clothes. Unless your dad has something that might work...?"

"Uh, he's got some pants that would be long enough, but he's like twice my size so I just don't know if they'd fit."

"We can do something with your brother jeans, I'm sure." He stood up and pulled Cronus out of the room to Eridan's, stealing pants and having him try them on.

After about an hour, they were satisfied, though Cronus still felt uncomfortable. "Babe this is _tight_."

"And you look fantastic now shoosh. I'm thinking about this mess of hair." He brushed a strand out of Cronus's face.

"Are you gonna be able to do anything with it?"

He scrunched his nose while he played with Cronus's hair. "It's a little long to do much with, but I think I can do _something _with it." He walked into the bathroom and came back with a tin of pomade and a brush. "Are these yours?"

"Uh, no they're Danny's."

"Well we're using it." He took the brush and started the work through the extra wavy mess of Cronus's hair. Cronus made a few grunting noises at his hair was pulled back. He could feel Kankri putting the pomade in his hair.

After another half an hour, his hair was done, though Cronus could feel his scalp aching. He touched his fingers to his hair line and felt the little strands hanging in his face. "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course I'm sure. I've drawn you like this enough times to know that you'll look hot."

His face flushed. It certainly never took Kankri long to fluster him. "You think so?"

"I know so." He grabbed a few things from his bag and stood in front of Cronus, adding little things like pins and an ear cuff.

"What are you doing?" He winced a little as the ear cuff clipped was clipped on.

"Making you look less like a hot nerd. I don't mind the look, dear, but you're going to a club."

"Whoa what?" How am I even getting _in_ the club?"

"Timaeus is letting us in." That's it. That's the end of the discussion. He wouldn't offer up any more information and Cronus knew it. He pulled a distressed hoodie out of his bag. "Put this on, you'll need it. It's supposed to be fucking cold tonight."

"I have my own coat you know."

"And you'll look like a nerd in it. If you're gonna be bad then you're gonna be _bad_." He smirked and sat on Cronus's lap, wrapping his arms around his neck. "This is gonna fun." He kissed him softly, leaving their lips together as he spoke. "I'd promise but I don't want you to think that I'm a liar."

"I wouldn't hold it against you." Cronus ran a hand under Kankri's shirt and pressed their lips together again, moving his lips hungrily. He felt uninhibited without his glasses. It was like he was someone else. Someone that would do something like this all time time, without having to steal his brother's jeans and his boyfriend's shirt. He felt like he was actually a bad ass.

And just for one night, just like a punk-rock Cinderella, he was going to be.


	11. Maroon

After an hour of making out on Cronus's bed, Kankri had finally managed to get them out of the house. He carried his bag over his shoulders, ever wary of the sounds around him. He hadn't been out tagging like he normally would, but he'd been looking at spots. And tonight he knew just where he wanted to put things up. He had smaller works that he was going to put up in the club tonight. And Cronus was going to help him.

They made it into town after a ten minute walk and Kankri lead them down back streets and alleys to get to the club. The bouncer was a tall man with long hair; cracked shades covered his face, but the tank top he wore showed that, were they to fight him, they would lose. He just waved at him. "Centaur."

"Sufferer." He nodded once but then turned his head to Cronus. "And who is this?"

Cronus grinned and opened his mouth to give his name, but Kankri cut him off. "Dualscar. He's a friend."

Centaur nodded and let him in, eying Cronus suspiciously. Once they were inside the bass hit them. Cronus looked around as Kankri led him to a back room. A blond man was sitting in a sound booth, bobbing his head to the beat of the song in his headphones. Kankri tapped him on the shoulder and he looked up at him. It was hard to tell what was on his mind with the triangle shades he was wearing, but he raised an eyebrow. "Who's this?"

"Timaeus this is Dualscar."

He quirked the corner of his mouth in what looked like a smirk. "He the nerd you wanna fuck?" Kankri frowned.

"Straight to the point as always, Timaeus."

"No point in beating around the bush." His eyes didn't leave Cronus. "Is he?"

"Not anymore." Timaeus raised his eyebrows just above his shade. "Yes we did." It had gotten easier for him to read his expressions in the years he'd been letting him in here. "So I can put up the tags around here, right?"

"Yeah. Just wait till Turntech takes over. His music gets people going more than my mixes have lately." A slight scrunch of the nose.

"Ooh, looks like someone's upset with their twin." Kankri sat down in a chair behind him, pulling Cronus down with him. "Care to share?"

"Nope." The was nothing more to be said on the matter.

Kankri draped his legs over Cronus's lap and gave him a look. He looked more than a little uncomfortable. It was obvious that he'd never been in a club before. He smirked. "You wanna go down on the floor?"

Cronus's face flushed an incriminating shade of red. "Um, sure. I've never done anything like this, so..."

"It's fine. You don't have to."

"No let's go. Are we gonna like... Dance?"

"Sure." He leaned forward and took off his bag. "Timaeus I'm leaving this here."

"No guarantees that Turntech won't take anything."

"Fair enough." He got up. "We're going down to the floor."

"Don't fuck too hard down there." He slid his headphones back on as they left.

Kankri led Cronus to the bar and got two beers. He wasn't sure if Cronus had ever had anything to drink, or what he'd even be like drunk, but he was throwing caution to the wind anyway. He gave him the bottle and they wandered to a booth. Cronus slid in on one side and Kankri did the same, sliding in next to him as he took a drink. "Having fun yet?"

He laughed. "Uh, not really." He rolled the bottle in his hands as Kankri took another drink. "Should I be?"

"I don't usually come here. I just like putting things where people can see. And since Timaeus and Turntech's brother bought this place they've been letting me do my thing in here." He took another drink. "We have an anonymity agreement, though. They don't know my name and I don't know anyone's who could get in trouble for this." He frowned. "They're the only people that can spot me for who I am on sight." He narrowed his eyes at Cronus. "So how did you know it was me?"

"Like I said, your pin..."

"No. Lots of people are wearing that pin in the city. How did you know it was _me_."

He chewed at his lip. "Well, uh, I guess you could say that I might have been watching you with a little more sensitivity than anyone else."

"Were you stalking me?" He laughed as he took another drink.

"What? No!" Cronus glanced at him nervously as he held onto his beer. "I just... I guess it was more hyper-aware of you than others would be."

Kankri could barely hear him over the music, but he did his best. "And why would you be so hyper aware of this little chink?" He laughed bitterly at himself.

"Don't call yourself that!" Cronus looked appalled.

"I can call myself whatever I want." He shook his head. "Are you going to stop me?"

"I'll do anything to stop you from calling yourself that."

"Like what?"

Cronus leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. "Like that." He smiled.

Kankri smirked. "Well if you're just going to kiss me every time I'm self deprecating then I'm going to call myself horrible things all the time."

"No don't!" He leaned over and kissed him again, his lips moving softly.

When they pulled apart Kankri took another drink and smirked. "You haven't even had a drink yet, Cronus. And you're kissing me in public like this?"

His eyes darted away and he took a long drink, making a face as the bitter taste hit him. He pulled away and stuck out his tongue. "Why would anyone even _drink_ this?" He lapped at nothing, like he was trying to get peanut butter off the roof of his mouth.

Kankri laughed. "To ease the pain and bitterness of life."

He swallowed. "Is there a lot of pain and bitterness in your life?"

This earned a sneer. Eyes narrowed and nosed scrunched, his voice bit through the air. "Life is pain. Living is bitterness. You can't go through life without scars." He took a long drink. "Just look at yourself."

Cronus frowned and put a hand to his forehead, feeling at the raised scars from a childhood fight. He looked at Kankri. "So what if we get scars? Isn't that what makes us unique?"

He snorted. "I guess, _Dualscar_."

"You called me that!"

"You're damn right I did." He finished off his beer with a long draw, then slammed it on the table. "Now let's go meet Turntech." He grabbed Cronus's hand and pulled him through the crowd, leaving the half finished beer on the table. They pushed through the crowd, Cronus's stature giving them just enough leverage to get to the booth without any trouble.

Kankri opened the door and was unsurprised to see Turntech with his feet kicked up on a table as he dug through his bag. "Turntech."

"Sufflekins." He looked at Cronus. "Oh wow hot nerd alert."

Timaeus shot him a look. "I knew you liked nerds too much, Turntech."

"Yeah, well, at least I don't have a thing for bucktoothed, oblivious tomb-raider types in skin tight short shorts."

"Really? We're doing this now?" He frowned. "Don't make me tell them your middle name."

"You wouldn't."

"Watch me."

Turntech frowned exaggeratedly. "Yeah, well, bitches don't know about the way you suck cock."

He rolled his eyes. "You know that lost what little funny it still had when I came out. It wasn't even really funny before then."

"No fuck you that's hilarious. The fact that I've said it so much just shoots the irony levels though the roof."

"Your irony schtick has become completely unironic, bro."

"Nah, twinny-bro, you just don't get it. You're too busy sucking off that green-eyed pretty boy."

"You're just jealous that I'm getting some."

Kankri watched as the twins argued. It was fun to listen to them as their voices meshed into a cacophony of what sounded like a single person arguing with himself. But finally it was time for Turntech to take over the board.

He jumped from his seat and pushed his brother out of the way. "Get out the way, gay twin!" Timaeus moved so quickly out of his way that Kankri could have sworn that he'd imagined it. But Turntech sat at the booth with the headphones on. He cleared his throat then turned on the microphone. He spoke into it, his voice low and smooth. "Hey ladies and gentlemen, you've just finished listenin' to the musical styles of _Timaeus Testified_! Give it up for him!" The cheers could be heard even in the booth. "Glad to hear you love it. But are you ready for the real show?" More cheering. "That's right, bitches, it's time for Turntech Godhead to take the stage!"

Without another word he brought up his music, mixing and mastering as he went to match the energy of the crowd. He bobbed his head to the beat but his movements were all small, precise.

Timaeus looked at Kankri. "You should get out there now. He's only going to hold their attention for another couple hours."

"Thanks. We'll be out of here by one." He grabbed his bag and lead Cronus back out into the now energized throng. He brought him to the back wall and pulled out a few of the things he wanted to post. He handed a dozen to Cronus. "Put these up on the walls. Don't let anyone catch you."

"What?"

"Just. Don't get caught."

"Okay?"

He leaned up and gave him a deep kiss. "Welcome to my world, love." he patted his cheek and went off to where he knew there was a way to get up to the edges and the catwalk.

He had big plans for this club.


	12. Fuchsia

The music in the club was so _loud_ and everyone around him was making it difficult to move to the edges. A few people had tried dancing with him, but he couldn't do it. He'd wanted to. He'd honestly always _wanted_ to do something like this. But never in this way. Never _vandalism_.

He knew that Kankri would be safe. He knew what he was doing and how to not get caught. But Cronus knew that if he made a wrong move... It could be bad. He moved as far from the crowd as he could and ended up in the bathroom. He looked at the stickers in his hands. They were just the sign of the Sufferer.

If he was caught it'd _really_ be bad.

He peeled the backing off of one and stuck it to the wall of a stall. He looked at himself in the mirror. He felt like he was a stranger in his own skin. But the man in the mirror looked so much more confident than he felt. Like he could take on the world.

Like he was the coolest guy in the world.

He made faces in the mirror. Just sticking out his tongue, crossing his eyes. Silly expressions. He stopped when he heard someone coming in and let out a little girly scream when he saw that it was a woman that came in. He grabbed the sink and held on. Her hair was long and she was coated in looping tattoos and piercings. He grinned nervously and tried to correct the situation by talking as slickly as he could. "Uh, hey there, sexy lady." He could slide into a character. It was just like casting a spell, right? Concentration and determination. All that fun stuff. "You come here often?"

She grimaced at him. "Just what I wanted. Another patriarch thinking that the women's bathroom is a _perfect_ place to meet ladies." She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly but then focused on the stickers in his hands. "Are you here with the Sufferer?"

He blinked a few times. "Uh, yeah. I'm Cr—Dualscar." _Good catch_. "Do you know him?" He was excited to meet someone that might know Kankri. Or maybe she was just another fan... Hopefully she wasn't a cop. What cop was even that hot? Not fair.

"Oh he's got you using a code name as well? Fair enough. Call me the Dolorosa." She went to the mirror and fixed her makeup. He hadn't noticed when she'd walked in, but her black lipstick was smudged like she'd been kissing out on the floor.

"Well, doll..."

"Dolorosa."

"Uh, yeah sorry." He coughed a little. "How do you know Ka—the Sufferer?"

She grinned with a little laugh. "We've been friends since we were children. And ever since his mother passed I've been doing my best to give him a strong female role model."

"Oh, uh. That's cool. I think he's mentioned you. By name I mean. Don't wanna blow your cover, though." He smiled broadly.

"You seem like you could be a big sweetie if you weren't trying to fit into his world."

"What?"

"As much as I love the boy, he's dangerous to everyone around him. Especially the people that love him." She fixed her hair, brushing strands out of her piercings carefully. "I think you'd better watch out. When he gets on a self destructive bender he can be a handful. If I could watch him and protect him from the world I would."

He furrowed his brow. "He's strong, Dolorosa."

"He's physically very strong, though I don't think that any of it has translated into mental or emotional strength." She glanced at him. "Can you handle that?"

"Shit I can barely handle my own stuff. How am I supposed to handle someone else's?"

"That's what love will do to you. You'll figure it out." She motioned to the stickers. "You should put one up in the men's room. I'm sure he'll think it's hilarious that you were in here at all. Though I'll let you tell that story. I've kept a lovely lady waiting long enough." She wandered out with a sway of her hips. He watched as she left with his jaw dropped. Even eyes that were really only for Kankri, he could see that she was one hot lady.

He waited for a while in the bathroom looking for a place to put another sticker and settled on trying to get up to the ceiling. He moved into a stall and climbed onto the back of the toilet, plastering a sticker just above it. He jumped down gracelessly and put one behind the other toiler. Maybe he'd make someone's day.

He left the bathroom and looked for the men's room. It wasn't too far away. He looked up at the ceiling while he walked there. Kankri was busy with something bigger on the walls. A black mask blocked his face, but it wasn't hard to tell it was him. The way he moved and held himself was enough to tell Cronus it was him.

He couldn't help but notice that he moved a little more gingerly than normal.

He did that. That was _him_.

He grinned at the thought and bit his lip as he remembered what they'd done just hours earlier. He shook his head and went into the men's room. No one was there. Fantastic. He put up the fourth sticker by the urinal and the fifth on the ceiling. Maybe it would give someone something to look at. He went back out into the club and did his best to be casual, which of course made his movements stiff and robotic.

But as the music played he began to relax a little. No one here knew his name but Kankri. He was completely nameless. He wasn't Cronus Ampora, resident nerd and a top ten student. He was Dualscar. And he decided that Dualscar was going to be a bad ass.

He started by trying to carry himself a little differently. He'd taken drama. He knew how to act. He just was never very _good_ at it. So trying to look like tough going through the crowd proved to be a challenge.

But eventually he learned a rhythm that seemed to work. The crowd lulled with certain beats and moved hard with others. When everyone was busy moving hard, grinding against each other, he turned himself into a shadow.

He put the sixth on the bar while the bartender was too bust talking to a rather voluptuous lady and the seventh on a table near the floor. Eight went on a door to the back. And nine went next to the bulletin board advertising other clubs. He didn't know what to do with the other three, but he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and was relieved to see that it was Kankri. "Hey, babe. You finished?"

He nodded and pointed up at the ceiling.

Cronus turned his head up and dropped his jaw when he saw what looked like the scars on his forehead. "What the _fuck_...?"

"I'll tell you later. We have to go." He pulled Cronus through the throng and out the door. They went past Centaur and out into the cold, autumn night. They didn't stop until they came to a park.

"What was that? That was... That was a tag of my _scars_."

He smiled. "Consider it a gift. They won't be able to figure it out, but they'll know It was me."

"Well yeah you did it in the fucking _club_."

He gave Cronus a look like he thought he had to be joking. "Cronus you put my sign up everywhere."

He swallowed hard. "What was the tag for?"

He shrugged. "It was more for me than anyone else this time."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I put you up, Cronus." His green eyes pierced Cronus. "You're a part of my world now."

Cronus swallowed and grinned sheepishly. "I think I like that."

He pulled Kankri into a deep kiss. His world was scary, but so very much him. So very much alive.

He loved it.


	13. Preview of Black and White and Greys

The can of paint in his hand was new. He'd never actually done any of the tagging in the past three months, but today he was told that it was time. He'd practiced on old plywood sheets in the middle of the night, and they'd burned them afterward. They always made out while they waited for the wood to burn itself out and then went back to his house.

His dad was starting to wonder about his new friend.

And why he was acting so suspiciously.

His grades had fallen, he knew that much.

But he was in love with Kankri Vantas and nothing was changing that.

Nothing.


End file.
